Methane blast kills 18 at Russia coal mine

Created 12/02/13

An underground methane gas explosion has killed up to 18
miners at a coal pit in northern Russia, and President
Vladimir Putin has dispatched his disasters minister to the
scene to oversee rescue efforts.

Rescue workers said they had brought 10 bodies to the surface
at the Vorkutinskaya mine, owned by large Russian steel
company Severstal, in the icy Komi region and were trying to
recover eight other corpses.

About 250 people had been at the pit at the time of the
blast, about 800 metres (2,600 feet) below the surface but
most had escaped or been rescued, government officials said.

Although mine safety has improved since the Soviet Union
collapsed in 1991, fatal accidents are frequent in Russia's
ageing pits. Most accidents have been attributed to methane
blasts, negligence or a failure to follow safety regulations.

"We need a clear and understandable picture of what
happened," Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told local
officials and rescue workers via a video link-up soon after
the explosion.

Putin sent his condolences and ordered Puchkov to travel in
person to Komi, about 1,200 km (750 miles) northeast of
Moscow, to oversee the rescue, cleanup and help the victims'
families.

The Emergencies Ministry and Severstal said 16 miners had
been killed and the fate of two others was unknown. Three
people were taken to hospital after the blast, the company
said.

"I need a clear report on the injured, the condition of their
health and what kind of necessary specialised medical help
they need. We are sending the appropriate experts from
Moscow," Puchkov told officials.

Itar-Tass quoted him as saying each victim's family would be
paid 2 million roubles ($66,400) in compensation.

Russia's federal Investigative Committee opened an
investigation to check whether there had been safety
violations at the Vorkutinskaya mine, which began production
in 1973.

A major mine blast killed 110 people in the coal-mining
region of Kemerevo in 2007 and another explosion in the same
region in 2010 killed more than 60.

The Vorkutinskaya explosion caused the shares of mine owner
Severstal to fall 2.2 per cent in Moscow, though the blast,
which affected only one of the mine's walls, is not expected
to greatly affect output of approximately 1 million tonnes a
year.

Putin's decision to dispatch a minister to the region, which
was part of the Gulag network of prison camps under Soviet
dictator Josef Stalin, appeared aimed at critics who say he
failed to respond quickly enough to previous disasters.

The Kremlin chief, who first rose to power 13 years ago, has
seen his ratings fall following major street protests against
his rule and his opponents say that Russia faces economic and
political stagnation under Putin's continued rule.